Things you should prep if you have young children

I have young boys and I not only worry about their physical well being for teotwawki but also their mental well being.
I have made it a priority to have them learn skills that I think might be of value to them in the future and would like to hear ideas in this area as well.

I have collected some books about depression era games and activities that are well suited to off grid, etc living. I am also interested in hearing thoughts about clothing and supplies they might need, etc.

I didn't see any postings on this topic and I wasn't really sure what section I should post this, so if I got it wrong please point me in the right direction.

How young? I always did well with Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts, and you dp NOT have to be part of a Troop or Pack, if there isn't one local to you. Momma did the Cub Stuff with our son, and I did the Scouting when he was older. It is the Prime Job of parents to see to the education of their children. To many, today, shuffle all that off on the State, via schools, and really have no idea what they are being taught.

Bruce in alaska (BTPost) An Atheist will never be able to say, "I TOLD YOU SO"!! ....

My oldest just started school, so very young. I did the whole brownie/girlscout thing so they will probably do cub/boy scouts. I agree that most parents aren't involved enough in their childrens lives and use vidio games, tv, etc to babysit. We are much more strict than that because they are just too important.

We worry about not only basic survival, maintaining some level of supplies specific to them because of how quickly they are growing, but too how to continue their education and give them some fun things so they can have some quality to life...or else, long term what's the point.

The American Boys Handybook (written at the turn of the 20th century) is available free in pdf format on the web. I would recommend a pre-1971 Boy Scout handbook (I still have mine). If, as a parent, you don't have the basic skills in that book - learn them with your child. It also teaches about being a good citizen, among other things.

"By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail."- Ben Franklin

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. - Robert A. Heinlein - "Time Enough For Love"

I have a universal translator. A large bore rifle. It speaks louder than words and will translate you to the afterlife instantly. - Self

I managed to download all the classic books over the years and have them all on disc in .pdf, and I got them all at no cost since the copyrights ran out for most of them. I also invested (at about $5 each) in educational CD's from K-12 which covers science, math, history, and other areas of education. I have HS level math, science, and geography, and various types of criteria all sorted in my collection. Couple all this with my vast collection of survival manuals, field medicine, science manuals, fiction books, how-to manuals, gardening manuals, weapons manuals, technical manuals for everything I have, and the rest...I would say that's a hefty amount of education.

I didn't get the K-12 tutorial CD's for myself, it's more of a collection of knowledge in case of a complete collapse. Kids are going to need an education no matter what.

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. "-- J. Krishnamurti“The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it.” -- George Orwell

Even today, that is about all I'd really pay some of these public school teachers my children have had. More to the point, the end product of chicken+feed =

"By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail."- Ben Franklin

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. - Robert A. Heinlein - "Time Enough For Love"

I have a universal translator. A large bore rifle. It speaks louder than words and will translate you to the afterlife instantly. - Self

Sorry you've had bad luck with teachers... i find that it's not the teachers but the tests that they are required to teach...and the lack of discipline that somn parents instill in their kids... I' have had good luck we have a small school (400 Jr high and High school combined) public school.... average graduating class is 55.. 37 go to college with some scholarship.... 10 head to the military and most of the rest farm... we have a strong parent support group and the school is small enough that all of the teachers know all of the students... very little is missed.... in a post SHTF school... the tests will be gone and subject matter will change... heavier on skills with a solid general education base...

In the matter of allies only two things are important. First, can he shoot? Second, will he aim at your enemy?

Ideas are more important then guns. If we wouldn’t let our opponents have guns, why would we let them have ideas? -Joseph Stalin

Agreed. My wife is an educator. One of the very rare breed of Conservative, prepper, Constitutional law supporting people that made it through America's collegiate system untouched by the Hipppy BS. She keeps her opinions to herself and her eyes open. She and I try being fair and balanced with our childrens' teachers. It can be very difficult at times. So please understand my statement is not made without knowledge of the current educational system and teachers in general. On the average they are fine Sheeple. That glazed look they have amazes me sometimes.

"By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail."- Ben Franklin

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. - Robert A. Heinlein - "Time Enough For Love"

I have a universal translator. A large bore rifle. It speaks louder than words and will translate you to the afterlife instantly. - Self

Broker, Would you be willing to duplicate, some or all of your Educational CD collection and make it available to those, who could use the information? My Grandchildren could use some of those, and I suspect others here would be very interested in specific CDs. Just wondering...

Bruce in alaska (BTPost) An Atheist will never be able to say, "I TOLD YOU SO"!! ....

What thought provoking excellent questions!!! I started replying to you and then dropped it then started replying and then dropped it. I'm racking my brain thinking back to things that were good "investments" instilling resilience in our kids and things I bombed out on. First thoughts were that I wouldn't be a proponent of sitting down with young kids armed with any "survival skills" manual unless there was a way to make it fun and non-threatening. Survival skills can be taught "indirectly" at an age appropriate level without having to "spook" them. When we panicked.... our kids panicked.

"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower." -Hans Christian Anderson

All this points toward home schooling. Maybe Tracy will contribute her experiences if someone sends her a PM. (She doesn't read everything, too busy.) There hasn't been much activity in the homeschooling subforum lately.

I think the one one thing we need to do with our kids/grandkids, is keep them from becoming mind-numb Zombies,with their heads stuck in a stinking Playstation/Xbox.
My grandson is just about to start going to preschool, So we read him bible stories,
and other things to keep him on a good base to keep him from becoming indoctrinated by the system. When he gets old enough, I'll take him fishing a whol.e lot If I have to I'll build him a go cart....And we will continue a good education.

We have been fortunate with our sons school. There are just over 200 kids and it goes from k-8 and you are required to volunteer in the school for a certain number of hours each week. What an eye opener that was. Gave me a better idea if what u needed to work on with my son and his teacher. Also gave me a good idea of which kids/parents I didn't want my son socializing with.

I agree about the "no child left behind" and how 'Teaching' so children can regurgitate facts is leading us down a terrible path. We are breeding people to not think for themselves.

I also was looking for ideas of things to put away so my children can have some fun/ normalcy wtshtf. Like coloring books, crayons, maybe a slingshot which could be good for small game.

Another cool thing about my sons school is they start skiing in kindergarden and biathlon training in 2nd grade. So they cross country ski and shoot on the range that is located on the school property with rifles.

Ok… library cards were a good "investment" for us. We went to the library once a week when they were little. The used Childcraft set was worth its weight in gold for home. I was always on the lookout for quality books.... our olders read to our youngers and even today.... our youngers (not so young anymore) read to our oldest (developmentally delayed and in his 30's). Swimming lessons at the earliest age possible.... a kid can only drown once. Putting a twist on the definition of "stranger" was warranted for our kids. Our definition of stranger was anyone who had never been invited inside our home.... not a substitute for 24/7 but it helps. Another thing we taught them was that if they ever got separated from us to look for a "Q-tip" or someone pushing a baby stroller. Mature white haired folk and young parents pushing strollers are most likely to make sure your kid is turned over to mall security and they won’t leave your child to fend for himself…. it’s proven. Last thing in this department was teaching our kids to kick bite scratch and run repeatedly screaming at the top of their lungs "this isn't my mom or this isn't my dad" if anyone ever grabbed them. That's an attention getter I can assure you.... and who ever grabbed your kid would be beaten by any Q-tip in range with purses and walkers plus it was fun "practicing" sinking teeth into apples at home and we weren't exactly raising our kids in Mayberry RFD times. Better safe than sorry. I'll definitely 2nd Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. 4H has its merits too for differently-abled kids especially. I think our boys became what they are in part because we always were actively involved in scouting. The parents are a "cut above" for the most part and I got so much more out of networking with other parents than I gave. Next size up jeans and next size up shoes comes to mind for this age since they haven't entered the teen stage where peer pressure WILL kick in. We're pretty "safe" buying regular old Levis at 2 for 1 sales. Vitamins.... just a little voice telling me we might not always have access to them without a prescription. If kids wear glasses.... glasses for sure. Contacts are nice and all but... they're disposable these days and we have to keep buying them and the solution and our RX is only good for 1 year so that means we'd have to go back and pay for another eye exam.
The best thing we did was pass up the golden arches in favor of "investing" in real food for them and when we did run through a fast food drive up.... we always apologized to them for giving them garbage greasy "blech" food. Funny story.... my dad took the boys on his own once and as a "treat" was going to drive them through McDonalds.... they all begged to go to Golden Coral instead. Buying real food for kids has many intangible benefits.... they end up all learning how to follow recipes by measuring ingredients and then there's family meal time together.... the dinner topics get really interesting sometimes... quite entertaining actually…. many teachable moments.
Another important purchase was buying ONLY one computer... that was set up in the family room with the monitor facing out. Then when they were older we paid to have the computer "fixed" so they couldn't register at places like MySpace or Facebook. When only 1 computer is provided.... they have no choice but to time-share which means they have to find something else to do and that something else is always more productive.
I looked in our game closet for you and here's what we kept and many we're still using:
Attack
Backgammon
Battle Ship
Burp
Candy Lane
Checkers
Chess
Chutes and Ladders
Jumanji
Medieval Times
Monopoly
Mouse Trap
Operation (requires batteries)
Parchesi
Pirateer
Risk
Scrabble
Shoot A Loop
Sinbad
Stratego
Sky Travelers
Trivial Pursuit
Union Pacific
Uno
Yahtzee
I like the idea of crayons just not coloring books. Sidewalk chalk is great too. Ours had slingshots and BB guns only they weren’t allowed to use the BB guns without my husband. We saved all our books, Lincoln Logs, Legos, Tinker Toys, PlayMobil, Hot Wheels/Matchbox, PlayForms, and PlayDo forms and shapes. Unstructured play with a radio or cassette player on in the back ground that they could pop what they wanted to listen to in worked for us. It was fun listening to them talking to each other while they played. The classic board games and toys seemed to be all that we really needed. All the rest ended up at Good Will. We were big time into the classics since we pretty much crippled them on the internet and unplugged our kids from the boob tube that was telling them how to think…. as in…. what cereals they were supposed to want for breakfast... what clothes would make them "popular".... and what toys they were supposed to want for birthdays and such and that’s without getting into all the subliminal messages bombarding our children. TV programming hasn't been wholesome in decades and the advertising encourages spending beyond one's means and worse…. IMHO.
Most "cost effective" thing I did.... retired after 25 years from a "career" that required travel. Scared the living daylights out of me but I did it. When they get older... and hormonal.... a lower paying “job” closer to home with a flexible schedule was best for us even if it meant living on a lot less. My failures.... not homeschooling.... I think I know why some animal mothers in the wild eat their young having parented kids who from time to time exhibited behavior that would have qualified them as poster children for birth control.... just kidding but I should have just taken the plunge and done it. Appropriately homeschooled kids repeatedly out-perform traditionally schooled children socially, emotionally, and academically and no one needs acronyms after their name to do it successfully. Next failure was not "investing" the time teaching mine how to do more for themselves at younger ages. Laundry comes to mind but.... too many to list. Major league mistake….buying a black box thing….. shoulda never done that. It competed with playing outside so we had to limit it to weekends only and then only a coupla hours at a time. Another mistake.... "investing" in a home with a bedroom for each kid. We shoulda doubled them up. Biggest bomb out.... me not recognizing the need to garden earlier. Only 2 of our boys have the skill set to grow their own food and put up. [/FONT]

"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower." -Hans Christian Anderson

Lots of great ideas...thank you. We are a no tv, etc. family for the kids...they get a movie once a week and no vidio games beyond a leapster my oldest can use in the car if we go on a trip. I have really considered the whole homeschooling thing, but I find the thought very daunting...because I don't want to fail them.

I think the main thing boys need are positive male role models,something that appears to be in short supply these days.If you can find an old trapper,he could teach your boys an immense amount of outdoor lore,good knowledge even if they never use it.Would be good if they could spend some time on a small farm,too.Knowledge is one thing that can never be taken away,needs to be a good balance of book learning and life knowledge.